"It was a feeling of elation," recalled Raymond J. Bula of learning that five
Norland variety potato leaves, which spent 16 days circling Earth
aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, had indeed sprouted tubers in the
microgravity environment of space. "This was the first food ever grown
in orbit. It was the culmination of a lot of effort."

Bula, director of the college's Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, was the
principal investigator for this high-profile test which attracted
media attention from around the world. He worked closely with a team
led by horticulture professor Theodore Tibbitts. The experiment's
success opens the door for larger horticulture projects to be
conducted on the International Space Station, set for construction
later this decade.

Throughout the mission, WCSAR personnel were able to monitor their
potato payload from a remote station near the lobby of Engineering
Hall. From that site they could talk to NASA's mission control
specialists who were in direct contact with the shuttle crew. Every
couple of days they received time-delayed videos from a camera built
into the plants' growth chamber. Photo printouts of these videos
allowed them to closely track the condition of the plants while in
space.

The growth chamber, AstrocultureTM, had been fine tuned on
four previous shuttle flights. It has two plant-holding compartments,
each about the size of a half-gallon carton of milk. Surrounding the
compartments are a myriad of environmental controls, including
light-emitting diodes developed in conjunction with Quantum Devices,
Inc., of Barneveld, Wis. The LEDs provide the light used in
photosynthesis.

Another feature of AstrocultureTM is its unique watering
system, which delivers water and nutrients to plants by negative
pressure through porous, stainless steel tubes.

On the twelfth day of the mission, researchers became concerned when
pictures from AstrocultureTM showed the potato leaves
turning brown. This aging process was expected, said Bula, but not
quite so soon. However, once the flight was over and the new tubers
were uncovered for the first time, all concern vanished.

To preserve the pioneering vegetables after the mission, some portions
were frozen with liquid nitrogen for chemical analysis by NASA
scientists. Other samples were returned for microscopic analysis by
UW-Madison researchers.

The benefits of having plants in space go well beyond providing a food
source, said Bula. "Plants provide a naturally recycling life support
system in space. They help remove excess carbon dioxide; replenish
oxygen; purify water; and give a psychological lift to astronauts in
an otherwise mechanically sterile environment."

Because tubers can be grown from a leaf in two weeks, they were ideal
for the shuttle experiment. A secondary benefit is that "potatoes are
something that the ordinary person can relate to," said Bula, who has
memories of pulling potatoes from the ground while growing up on the
family farm in Antigo, Wis. "This universal appeal helped attract a
lot of worldwide interest to our experiment."

While Bula and his fellow researchers are thrilled that the potatoes
grew and that their equipment worked flawlessly, they know they cannot
let up on their efforts. Over the next three years, WCSAR will
concentrate on building a "scaled-up" version of
AstrocultureTM for the International Space Station. The
center will also start working with industry on related microgravity
projects.

Attracting private businesses to this field "will take an education
process," said Bula. "We have three years to bring them around."